Past Events 2015

LIKE 62 - Wednesday 9th December. Christmas Buffet, Fun and Networking

Venue: The Lamb, 94 Lamb's Conduit Street, Bloomsbury, WC1N 3LZ

Venue website: www.youngs.co.uk/pubs/lamb

We concluded our programme of events in 2015 with our traditional Christmas party. This year our entertainment was in the form of Christmas charades and a prize for the most seasonally-dressed individual. As is customary, there was a Secret Santa. The Lamb proved a popular venue and we will be holding events there in 2016.

LIKE 61 - Tuesday 28th July 2015. Data Protection in Europe – The Struggle for Reform

In 1995 the European Union adopted Directive 95/46/EC, the ‘data protection directive’, which became the basis for the UK Data Protection Act 1998 and equivalent legislation in the other member states. Over the years, the principles at the heat of the directive have become the model for many national data protection regimes around the world.

At the beginning of 2012 the European Commission published its draft General Data Protection Regulation, intended to replace the original directive. The regulation was published with hopes of quick implementation and confident announcements it was the next generation of data protection and would set a new global standard. Three and half years later the proposals are still being debated, with both the European Parliament and the Council issuing competing and heavily amended versions of the original draft. In this informal presentation and discussion we will look at some of the reasons for the delay and the issues at stake. We will also consider what the new data protection regime could, and should, look like and what the implications will be for organisations if the main changes go ahead. The session will be led by Guy Johnson.

About Guy

Guy is a former solicitor and consultant with many years’ experience of data protection and information management. He is now working in association with Metataxis although he was previously a consultant with TFPL and KPMG. He has worked with clients in central government, financial and professional services, the energy sector, manufacturing and scientific research. Hashtag: #like61

LIKE 60 - Gamification, Tuesday 16th June

LIKE reached the grand old age of 60 events in June. To celebrate, we explored the youthful fun of gamification during one of our traditional dinner and speaker evenings. We joined fellow LIKErs and Stephen Dale (http://collabor8now.com/) for dinner and drinks to learn about this stimulating subject.

Gamification is about understanding and influencing human behaviours in order to achieve a specific outcome. Gamification seeks to take enjoyable aspects of games - fun, play and challenge - and apply them to real-world business processes. Analysts are predicting massive growth of gamification over the next few years, but the jury is still out on whether there is any substance or evidence to back up some of the benefits being touted. This session will look at some examples of how gamification is being applied in various industry sectors, followed by a group and plenary session to discuss the following questions: Does gamification have a place as an effective business change agent? Can gamification encourage more effective knowledge sharing behaviours and better employee engagement within the/your organisation?

LIKE 59 - Cartoon Museum, Thursday 30th April

On April 30 we visited the Cartoon Museum in Bloomsbury, which has a fascinating and entertaining collection of cartoons from the 18th century to today.

Venue: The Cartoon Museum, 35 Little Russell Street, London WC1A 2HH

Weblink: www.cartoonmuseum.org

LIKE 58 - The Magna Carta Exhibition at the British Library, Tuesday 24th March

The exhibition displays two of the four original 1215 Magna Carta documents, Jefferson’s handwritten copy of the Declaration of Independence and one of the original copies of the US Bill of Rights. We enjoyed a special introductory talk by one of the organisers of the exhibition with time set aside for questions before we explored the exhibition.

More details courtesy of the British Library's introduction to the exhibition:

One of the world’s most famous documents, Magna Carta has inspired some of today’s fundamental liberties. Yet it started as a practical solution to a political crisis 800 years ago. Since 1215, Magna Carta has evolved from a political agreement to an international symbol of freedom. Uncover the story of how its power has been used – and abused – from its genesis through to today’s popular culture, in the largest exhibition ever staged about this world-famous document. Explore centuries of dramatic history, from King John, medieval battles, revolution, wars, empire and the struggle for the right to vote, right up to today’s satirical commentaries Together, for this once-in-a-lifetime moment, are the iconic documents and artefacts that tell the story of Magna Carta.